Graduate Studies Reports Access
Graduate Course Proposal Form Submission Detail - CCJ6654
Tracking Number - 2737
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Current Status:
Approved by SCNS - 2014-11-01
Campus: Tampa
Submission Type: New
Course Change Information (for course changes only):
Comments: For Criminology MA Changes. Approved 3/28/14. to Sys 4/23/14; to SCNS 5/1/14. Appd eff 11/1/14
Detail Information
- Date & Time Submitted: 2012-02-07
- Department: Criminology
- College: BC
- Budget Account Number: 122100000
- Contact Person: Wilson Palacious
- Phone: 8139747290
- Email: wpalacio@usf.edu
- Prefix: CCJ
- Number: 6654
- Full Title: Seminar in Drugs and Crime
- Credit Hours: 3
- Section Type: D -
Discussion (Primarily)
- Is the course title variable?: N
- Is a permit required for registration?: N
- Are the credit hours variable?: N
- Is this course repeatable?: Y
- If repeatable, how many times?: 2
- Abbreviated Title (30 characters maximum): Seminar in Drugs and Crime
- Course Online?: C -
Face-to-face (0% online)
- Percentage Online: 100
- Grading Option:
R - Regular
- Prerequisites:
- Corequisites:
- Course Description: The objective of this course is to provide the student a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of drug use in American society.
- Please briefly explain why it is necessary and/or desirable to add this course: Needed to compete with national trends
- What is the need or demand for this course? (Indicate if this course is part of a required sequence in the major.) What other programs would this course service? This course is being added in the context of a complete revision of the Department of Criminology graduate curriculum. The purposes of the revision are to ensure that the curriculum (a) is updated to reflect current themes/emphases in the discipline, (b) provides students with a well-rounded graduate education, (c) reflects the identity of the USF Department of Criminology and thereby the strengths/expertise of the faculty, and (d) improves outcomes on doctorate comprehensive exams. Adding this course will help us achieve these objectives by providing seminars in one of the central issues facing the field; drugs and crime.
- Has this course been offered as Selected Topics/Experimental Topics course? If yes, how many times? Yes, 1 time
- What qualifications for training and/or experience are necessary to teach this course? (List minimum qualifications for the instructor.) Earned doctorate/terminal degree in Criminology or a related discipline.
- Objectives: 1. interpret each major epidemiological data source used for monitoring illicit drug behaviors and related criminal activity in the United States.
2. describe United States drug legislation enacted since the early 1900s.
3. identify and describe each theoretical perspective related to drug use and abuse; with a particular emphasis on the major sociological theoretical frameworks.
4. identify the three main theoretical perspectives employed by criminologists in order to understand the nature of drug use and crime.
5. enumerate the “best practices” in drug treatment options for drug-involved men and women.
- Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe the physical and psychological effects of narcotics, hallucinogens, marijuana, depressants, inhalants, and steroids.
2. Describe the physical and psychological effects of alcohol.
3. Discuss the issues related to alcohol abuse unique to special populations.
4. Evaluate the issues of juvenile drug crimes and how they affect the criminal justice system.
5. Examine the components of the criminal justice system that are associated with the diversion or incarceration of drug offenders.
6. Discuss the production and trafficking of illegal drugs.
7. Demonstrate how drug crimes affect law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
8. Analyze the policies of the criminal justice system regarding the prevention and treatment of drug use.
9. Describe the circumstances under which a drug offender may become involved with the criminal justice system.
- Major Topics: Theoretical background and issues
Physical and psychological effects of each of the major categories of drugs
Alcohol abuse in special populations
Juvenile drug crimes
Diversion and incapacitation of drug offenders.
Production and trafficking of illegal drugs
Drug crimes affect on law enforcement and the criminal justice system
Prevention and treatment
- Textbooks: Levinthal, Charles. (2008). Drugs, Society, and Criminal Justice, 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon / Pearson. (DSCJ)
Bourgois,Philippe & Jeff Schonberg. (2009). Righteous Dopefiend. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. (RD)
Page, J. Bryan & Merrill Singer. (2010). Comprehending Drug Use: Ethnographic Research at the Social Margins. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. (CDU)
Bean, Philip. (2008). Drugs and Crime, 3rd Edition. UK: Willan Publishing. (DU)
- Course Readings, Online Resources, and Other Purchases: No additional readings.
- Student Expectations/Requirements and Grading Policy: Course Requirements and Grading:
The course has three general requirements for students. They are summarized here and explained in the section below. Grading Scale and detailed explanations of the course requirements follow on subsequent pages of this syllabus.
1. Weekly discussion board posts: 360 points (34%)
2. Oral Presentation: 300 points (28%)
3. Final Research Paper: 400 points (38%)
Total 1060 points (100%)
Grading Scale:
Grades will be assigned on the basis of total points accumulated on the graded assignments above.
Grade Points
A 94-100% 992-1060
A- 90-93.9% 954-991
B+ 87-89.9% 923-953
B 84-86.9% 891-922
B- 80-83.9% 848-890
C+ 77-79.9% 817-847
C 74-76.9% 785-816
C- 70-73.9% 742-784
D 60-69.9% 636-741
F Below 60% Below 635
- Assignments, Exams and Tests: Course assignments explained (Please read this section very carefully):
One’s success in this course is to a large extent dependent on the students' reading of the assigned material (book chapters, supplemental readings, and lectures) by the assigned due date. You must pace yourself accordingly. This course does not lend itself to multitasking and you cannot catch up on the assigned readings over a weekend. Please pace yourself accordingly. This course will be a reading and writing intensive experience for you.
1.Weekly Discussion Board Posts: (30 points each; total 360 points)
Discussion prompts will be posted each week by the instructor. Prompts will be based on issues related to race, ethnicity, and crime and will be related to your assigned materials. Students are expected to respond to each weekly discussion post drawing from what they have learned in the course so far; while these are opinion pieces, students are expected to support their opinions. Students may limit their response to the instructor’s prompt and are to comment on another student’s response (expanding or critiquing). Please be respectful of others’ opinions and keep responses appropriate. Grading will be based on the student’s ability to: (1) identify and explain the issues(s), (2) recognizes theoretical context, (3) presents personal ad other related perspectives, (4) and evaluates empirical evidence and conclusions. Discussion board posts are to be a minimum of 300 words and no more than 1200 words. Failure to meet the minimum word requirement will result in a loss of points. You should approach this as a serious writing assignment.
Each weekly post is due by that Sunday @ 12:00 p.m. (Noon), please do not wait until the last minute to initiate and complete this assignment. Give each post your attention and critical thought; do not wait until the last minute. You should not approach this assignment simply to complete it, give it careful thought. The sooner you post your reply the better. If you miss a weekly post you will not be allowed to catch up (there is no ‘backtracking’ of posts in this discussion board) and you will lose points (the full 30 points for that week) unless it is due to a reasonable excuse as outlined in your university handbook. Please note that failure to actually submit your post is not an excuse and you will not be granted an opportunity to repost at a late time. The only exception to this is a Bb system failure; technical difficulties at your end will not account for a reposting. You have one full week to post your reply so therefore please do not wait until the last minute to do so. Grades for discussion board posts will be available via the My Grades option in Canvas usually within 1 week from the due date/time. Discussion post grades will show a dash in the grade center until I post your grade. I will send an announcement when grades are posted.
2. Research Paper: (400 points)
• Students will have the opportunity to select the topic that they want to research from a list of topics contained in Appendix A of this syllabus. By the first week of class, students will select their topics. Paper topics are due by Monday, January 23h at 12:00 noon. Failure to submit a topic on or before the due date will result in a loss of 10 points per each day you were late. The total loss in points will then be deducted from your final paper. In an effort to ensure that each student has a unique topic, please submit via email wpalacio@mail.cas.usf.edu. Topics will be assigned on a first come first serve basis. The research paper should follow the essay format highlighted below and discussed in depth in Appendix A. A sample listing of potential topics is provided in Appendix A. This is only a sample listing and you are highly encouraged to select a topic that only is within the parameters of the course objectives and materials but one that you are also personally interested in. Remember, this is a research topic you will live with for an entire semester.
• A formal essay has a logically structured explanatory form that attempts to clarify a writer's single dominant idea or thesis relevant to a specific subject in criminology, in this case, sexual offenses in particular.
• A formal essay has a specific and standardized format consisting of
• Title page
• Introduction
• Adequately spaced pages
• Concluding section
• Reference pages
• A formal essay has a structure consisting of a clearly recognizable introduction, developmental sections, and conclusion.
• The paper must be a minimum of 25 double space pages in length including references and tables, with a required 11 pages of text. Papers must be typed and submitted electronically through a plagiarism detection service. Papers must be double spaced, use 12 point font, and 1 inch margins. Appendix A gives more precise information on the format to use, recommended journals, and available topics.
• A minimum of 10 sources are required for this paper. Students must reference at least 2 books and at least 8 journal articles. Websites are not an acceptable source of information for this paper. WIKIPEDIA may not be used! The only exception to the website exclusion are for research based information however if you find yourself having to consult such for your paper I highly recommend that you first “clear” this with me and work with one of our librarians as to the nature of the research information.
• Papers must follow APA format
• Students are strongly encouraged to make an appointment with the writing center prior to submitting their rough draft and their final papers.
• Writing guides have been posted on Canvas by the instructor to benefit the students, please review them.
• Rough draft of paper is due by 10:00 p.m. on Monday, March 5th. Late drafts will not be accepted. The rough draft will count 200 points of the total 400 points for this assignment so please treat this very serious as it is an opportunity for you to establish a strong foundation for your research paper. Instructor will provide feedback (electronic comments) for all students to revise and guide the final drafts of their papers. Points will be awarded based on progress (sources selected, text drafted), content (subject matter discussed, grammar, spelling, punctuation, APA format), and clarity (how well the subject matter is discussed).
• Final Papers are due by 10:00 p.m. on Friday April 27th, 2012. Late papers will not be accepted.
Grading is based on the following: (1) organization of the paper, (2) language - i.e. the clarity of the written presentation, the effort and insight demonstrated by the student in reviewing the literature and evaluating it, the quality of the written analyses undertaken and overall writing style, (3) content - i.e. strength of the conclusions drawn, and the insight demonstrated with respect to the recommendations made for changes in policy or the need for future research, use of the empirical evidence, (4) Use of sources - i.e. the quality of the resources consulted.
3. Oral Presentation: (300 Points)
Each student will partner with another student and conduct an oral presentation (30 minutes) on a topic related to the course material, additional specifics will be provided by the end of January 2012. Your presentation will be graded on the following:
(1) Organization
(2) Style
(3) Depth of content
(4) Use of communication aids
(5) Use of language
(6) Personal appearance
- Attendance Policy: Course Attendance at First Class Meeting – Policy for Graduate Students: For structured courses, 6000 and above, the College/Campus Dean will set the first-day class attendance requirement. Check with the College for specific information. This policy is not applicable to courses in the following categories: Educational Outreach, Open University (TV), FEEDS Program, Community Experiential Learning (CEL), Cooperative Education Training, and courses that do not have regularly scheduled meeting days/times (such as, directed reading/research or study, individual research, thesis, dissertation, internship, practica, etc.). Students are responsible for dropping undesired courses in these categories by the 5th day of classes to avoid fee liability and academic penalty. (See USF Regulation – Registration - 4.0101,
http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/ogc%20web/currentreg.htm)
Attendance Policy for the Observance of Religious Days by Students: In accordance with Sections 1006.53 and 1001.74(10)(g) Florida Statutes and Board of Governors Regulation 6C-6.0115, the University of South Florida (University/USF) has established the following policy regarding religious observances: (http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/gc_pp/acadaf/gc10-045.htm)
In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Blackboard, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It’s the responsibility of the student to monitor Blackboard site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and MoBull messages for important general information.
- Policy on Make-up Work: Only in the case of hospitalization, or the death of an immediate family member, will an extension be granted. Please be aware that you will be required to document this emergency. Extensions of any of the deadlines in this course will only be done so accordingly for events as defined by the university handbook. Access problems will not be considered as a valid excuse to warrant an extension on the deadlines. Also, work-related responsibilities and/or personal commitments will not be accepted as a basis for an extension/rescheduling of any required materials.
- Program This Course Supports: Criminology
- Course Concurrence Information: None
- if you have questions about any of these fields, please contact chinescobb@grad.usf.edu or joe@grad.usf.edu.